Nature – O’Sullivan et al. (2025): Who pays for carbon dioxide removal? Public perceptions of risk and fairness of enhanced rock weathering in the UK
Kate O’Sullivan, Nick Pidgeon, Karen Henwood, Fiona Shirani & Harriet Smith, IN: Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05384-9
With undefined social and environmental costs, and evolving economic and governance systems, enhanced rock weathering (ERW) raises issues for public acceptance. A literature gap exists regarding how local communities view the possibility of at-scale deployment in their area. The authors address this with data from five UK public workshops to identify conditions under which communities potentially impacted by ERW consider deployment fair and acceptable. The authors show that public acceptance is conditional upon place-sensitive deployment pathways that reflect how place is valued. Analysis highlights opportunities to minimise risk and maximise benefits experienced locally; the importance of transparent governance and monitoring; and unbiased, balanced communication of impacts.